2009-07-22

Amnesty International issued a public statement today (22 of July 09), calling on President Hosni Mubarak to order an immediate and unconditional release of Musaad Abu Fagr and Karim Amer, prisoners of conscience who have both been held for more than 18 months. Musaad Abu Fagr continues to be detained without charge or trial despite repeated court orders for his release, while a leading UN human rights body has declared Karim Amer’s imprisonment “arbitrary” and called for his release.

Karim Amer, is a blogger who was sentenced to four years in prison in 2007, is also held at Borg al-Arab Prison. He too is a prisoner of conscience. He was tried and imprisoned for criticizing President Mubarak and Egypt’s al-Azhar religious authorities in his blog. He was convicted of “inciting strife and defaming Muslims on the internet by describing the Prophet of Islam and his comrades as murderers, which disturbs national peace”; and “insulting the President of the Republic by writing on the internet”.

Musaad Abu Fagr, is a novelist, human rights activist and founder of the Sinai-based movement Wedna Na’ish (We Want to Live). He was arrested in December 2007 following demonstrations in al-Arish, North Sinai involving Wedna Na’ish supporters and others who were demanding the permits to build houses.